For Sale By Owner Business

[plarsen111]

Hi,

I am a school teacher living in an area of about 175,000 people, and there is no "For Sale By Owner" business here. All the smaller and larger areas around here have them, but we do not.

I have watched a few people give it a shot, and it has failed. Not sure why though.

I am thinking of giving it a shot this summer. I have a website name ready to go (I have had it for about 8 years now!) and about $12,000 in capital. My biggest expense, I believe, would be the yard signs, and marketing.

Anyone have any advice for someone doing something like this?

Phil

[Harold Mansfield]

You should try and find out why they failed. If it was just one, maybe it was poor management, but a couple makes me skeptical that maybe a town of 175k can't sustain it.
Just spit balling.

[plarsen111]

Thanks Harold. My guess is that 175k should be plenty, especially for a side business. There are smaller towns, say 1.5 hours from me, that have FSBO businesses, and they have been doing it for years. I do appreciate your response, and it does have me thinking.

[tallen]

Do you have a real estate broker license? Sure, you are promoting for-sale-by-owner, but the competition (licensed real-estate brokers) will look for any avenue they can to de-rail your business. So you'll want to read up on the relevant laws and make sure you don't overstep the bounds.

[Sarah - Dufferin Media]

Sounds like some research is needed, especially to analyze other similar business models and to harvest ideas that have been successful.
Good Luck!!!

[Owen]

I definitely agree. Research is key

[LeroyB3]

Find one person to help. Don't spend any money until you can find one person to help with this service. If it takes longer than a week to find someone to help, that may be a problem.

[MarkPoppen]

Interesting. I've always been interested in this business, but never actually pursued it. I'll keep an eye on this topic for my own research as well. There's 1 bigger player in the area here that does exactly what you describe, and they've been in business for quite a while (at least 7 years, since I moved here). I guess there's a market for it, then..